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Dollar chana prices have soared in the domestic market amid increasing demand from Horeca (Hotel, Restaurants and Cafe) segment and shortall in stocks as arrivals of fresh crops reportedly delayed in the markets of producing areas of Madhya Pradesh, India's largest chana producer.

Prices of dollar chana rose sharply by Rs 700 to 1,000 per quintal on Wednesday at the benchmark spot market of Indore (Madhya Pradesh) due to shortage of carryover stocks and thin arrivals of fresh crops.

Dollar chana (old stocks) was priced at Rs 7,400-Rs 8,200 per quintal while new crop of dollar chana traded at Rs 8,000-8,300 per quintal at Indore market.

Dollar chana (White chickpea), commonly known as Kabuli chana is one of the chief food stuffs of Horeca segment and has attracted good demand from domestic market but carryover stocks are almost nil, therefore prices have shot up, said a trader dealing in the commodity.

Suresh Agarwal, President, All India Dal Mills Assocication told IANS that domestic production of dollar chan is expected to remain 25 percent down from last year while the commodity has attracted good demand from overseas, particularly from Sri Lanka, Dubai and Algeria.

A trader from Indore told India exports over one lakh tonnes of dollar chana every year for past few years while the volume of export was higher when the country used to export around 50,000-60,000 tonnes to Pakistan. He said that India has not been exporting dollar chana to Pakistan for last few years.

The shortfall in stocks of dollar chana is seen globally which is also the reason of hikes in the prices of the commodity as Mexican dollar chana is also priced at 1,150 dollar per tonne, said the trader.

However, Piyush Goyal, a trader Neemach market of Madhya Pradesh told IANS that the commodity is presently in the grip of the speculators, therefore, prices have soared in a couple of days.

Amit Shukla, an expert of the pulses market said, prices of dollar chana have increaed around Rs1,500 per quintal this week amid firmer demand and weak stocks, and bullish tone is likely to continue amid strong demand ahead of Holi festival.